Charlize Theron Profile | |
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It's a common complaint amongst actresses who started out as models or beauty queens that no one takes them seriously. They're seen, they believe, merely as eye candy, girlfriend material, lacking the talent to take on the meatier female roles. Many - the more bloody-minded among them - rebel against this stereotyping, work hard to widen their scope, and eventually succeed in earning their peers' respect. Michelle Pfeiffer was a glowing example of this, and the first four years of the new millennium saw two others follow her. First Halle Berry took the Best Actress Oscar for Monster's Ball then, two years later, Charlize Theron for Monster. Both movies were raw, disturbing and emotionally truthful, but of the two actresses it was Theron who went furthest. As the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, she left her looks behind entirely, wholly inhabited her character. When her performance was compared to that of Robert De Niro in Raging Bull, it could not be denied that this beauty was far more than just a looker.
Theron was born on the 7th of August, 1975, and grew up on a farm outside of Benoni, a town some 25 kilometres east of Johannesburg. She was named after her father, Charles. Charles was of French descent, while her mother Gerda hailed from German stock - both parents, though, were Afrikaans, born and raised in South Africa. Afrikaans would be Charlize's first language, English her second, and she'd pick up smatterings from the 26 ethnic groups that provided workers for the farm and the road construction business run by Gerda. It's testament to Theron's abilities that she would find worldwide success by mastering a third language - American.
When she was 15 her father attacked her mother, and her mother shot him in self-defense. He died, but her mother was not charged in the incident.
First language is Afrikaans, English is spoken as her second language.
Appeared in the May 1999 issue of Playboy Magazine.
Became a fashion model at age 14.
Named one of "People" magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. (2000).
Turned down the female lead in Pearl Harbor (2001) to star alongside Keanu Reeves in Sweet November (2001).
Auditioned for the female lead in Showgirls (1995).
Dated Stephan Jenkins, lead singer of the band Third Eye Blind, from January 1998 to July 2001.
Was ranked 4th of the 100 Sexiest Women by FHM Taiwan (2001).
Placed #1 on Beautiful People Internet Poll, narrowly beating Cameron Diaz in #2 and Kate Beckinsale in #3. The photo featured on the site was the famous 'Diving Board' photo.
Both her parents are Africans, born and raised in South Africa. However her father is of French descent and her mother of German descent.
Voted the 12th Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine September 2002.
Measurements: 36B-24-36 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).
Used hypnotherapy as an aid to quit smoking.
Was named after her father, whose name was Charles.
She gained 30 pounds to play Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003).
On the show, "Sunday Morning Shootout" (2003), it was revealed that her manager discovered her in a Hollywood bank after he witnessed her yelling at a bank teller for refusing to cash her check.
Won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Aileen Wuornos on what would have been Aileen's 48th birthday: 29 February 2004.
After winning her Oscar, she returned to great celebrations in her native South Africa, and she even met former South African President Nelson Mandela. When he praised her for putting their country on the map and gave her a hug, Theron broke into tears (she was guest of honor at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg on March 11th 2004).
She has been dating Irish actor Stuart Townsend since August 2001.
Has said her favorite actor is Tom Hanks.
In 2004, injured her neck while filming Ĉon Flux (2005). Luckily, the injury wasn't serious enough to put her in the hospital, but it did shut down production for several weeks.
As a teenager in her native South Africa, she learned English by watching American TV.
At the 2005 Golden Globes she was sporting a new dark hair color. She is a now a member of the celebrities who have dyed their hair from blonde to brown, or black. They include, among others: Mary-Kate Olsen; Nicky Hilton; Mandy Moore; Renée Zellweger; Christina Aguilera, Melinda Messenger and Ashlee Simpson.
She was the first person to sign on to be a presenter at the 77th Annual Academy Awards.
Second actress (the first was Kim Basinger) to win an Oscar after appearing naked in Playboy magazine.
Met fiancé Stuart Townsend on the set of Trapped (2002).
She is the second African to win an Academy Award. The South African-born cinematographer Ted Moore was the first. South African-born actor Basil Rathbone was the first African-born actor to be nominated, followed by Cecil Kellaway. Theron was the first African woman to win an Oscar.
Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (September 29, 2005).
Named #15 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list.
Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2006 Razzie Award nominating ballot. She was listed as a suggestion in the Worst Actress category for her performance in the film Ĉon Flux (2005). However, she failed to receive a nomination. (Had she gotten the nomination, she would have been the first person to be nominated for both Leading Actress awards at the Oscars, for North Country (2005), and the Razzies.)
Named #4 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement (2005).
Studied acting with Ivana Chubbuck.
Named #15 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).
Dyed her hair black for Ĉon Flux (2005).
Trained as a ballet dancer at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, and performed in both "Swan Lake" and "The Nutcracker". Her dancing career ended after a knee injury.
One of the first movies she ever went to see at the theater was Splash (1984). She confessed that after watching the movie, she felt jealous of Daryl Hannah and developed a crush on Tom Hanks. She even said to herself that she could have played the role of Madison better than Hannah.
Was the recipient of the German television award "Goldene Kamera" for best international actress and appeared also in the award show. The award is sponsored by the German television program "Hörzu". [2006]
Shares the same background as actor Daniel Bonjour who also left South Africa as a teenage actor and traveled to Europe and then America. Both their parents are of European background. Also, both actors have found it easier to simply use an American accent in their work.
Chosen by Femme Fatales magazine as one of the "50 sexiest women on the planet". [February 2006]
Esquire magazine's Sexiest Woman Alive in 2007.
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